


A Wizard's Duel

by themoistplinth



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: A WHOLE LOTTA AUs, Established Relationship, Ice Mage!Lance, M/M, Modern AU, Wizard AU, children fighting, fire mage!Keith, i can sell this, not really a part of klance week but I guess it does fit one of the categories so ehhhh I guess??, only multichapter because i'm too lazy to write it all tonight, school au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-09
Updated: 2016-08-09
Packaged: 2018-08-07 19:03:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7726201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themoistplinth/pseuds/themoistplinth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Keith and Lance live in a world where magic is an every day skill, save for those with extreme ability, but whose ability is the more extreme? There can be only one solution; an all out fight between fire and ice.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Wizard's Duel

It was a magical and wonderful world out there for anyone who would care to look; just beyond the view of the ordinary was a world of extraordinary, paranormal beauty; magical creatures and fantastic sights unlike anything that could ever be seen anywhere else without use of power beyond mortal fingertips.   


That used to be the case at least-nowadays any random person with the slightest spark of magic could bend any part of the world to their will. Society adapted, new laws were passed, and people grew to be unimpressed with most any conjuring or creation of magic.   


And asses like Lance fucking McClain became the most insufferable roommate slash boyfriend imaginable.   


Keith lay on the sofa on his front, reading his university textbook whilst a small grey cloud rained droplets of water down on his head. He attempted to ignore it but the water had begun to drip down his forehead, down his nose and onto the book, “Lance,” Keith growled, “Would you please knock that off?”   


Lance stared at Keith innocently, “I’m sorry,” Lance smiled mockingly as his fingers wiggled sparked with power, “I have to practise if I’m ever going to be able to control ice and I need to be able to control water first”.   


“Why not practise in the bathroom?” Keith growled and swatted the cloud away.   


“If I’m in the bathroom then I can’t annoy you,” Lance stated and retracted his power, leaving the water stored in his cloud to disperse and leave Keith soaking. Keith snarled and sent sparks toward Lance-the boy’s green hoodie caught alight immediately. Lance yelped and began to pat his hoodie rapidly.   


“You asshole,” Lance yelled, “Water comes out, fire leaves fucking burn marks”.   


“I’m sorry,” Keith said pointedly, “I have to practise if I’m ever going to be able to control fire. You’re just jealous that I’m a more powerful wizard than you are”.   


Lance muttered more swears and began to summon his cloud again, this time over a small bucket in the corner-his emotions must have got the better of him as a bolt of miniature lightning streaked out and hit the wall, leaving a scorching burn.   


“Safety deposit,” Keith called out and Lance growled and shot the lightning out again, this time toward Keith; it hit his book and, similar to Lance’s hoodie, immediately burst into flames, wrecking the entire book, “That was freaking expensive!” Keith yelled, pulling the flame from his book and compressing it into a tight ball before it vanished into nothing but residual heat in the air.   


“You started it!” Lance shouted back, power cackling at his fingertips, “You act so high and mighty because you were chosen to be a mighty paladin! Well so was I dipshit, you aren’t special anymore!”   


“Neither are you! You think I act like I’m entitled because I’m gonna become a paladin but look at you, you treat me like a freaking test subject for your freaky shit!”   


“I un-transfigured you in the end didn’t I?”   


“I looked like a purple furry!” Keith groaned loudly, “Big sticky up ears and purple hairy skin!”   


“But I un-transfigured you! Get over it!”   


“You’re the worst!” Keith cried and pulled a crimson barrier from the air, sliding into place between himself and Lance.   


“More powerful wizard,” Keith heard Lance whisper from the other side of his barrier, “I could kick his cute ass without even trying”.   


Keith’s barrier vanished as he slid up from the sofa, grinning cunningly, “That sounds like a bet to me asswipe”.   


Lance sneered, “You’re on barf breath,” he growled as his hands began to cackle with energy.   


“Lance don’t be the idiot we all know you are,” Keith said and rolled his eyes, “If we fight like this then we could get expelled, you know what the Garrison’s policies are on this”.   


“Are you saying you want me to embarrass you in front of the entire school?”   


“I’m saying if we’re gonna fight, we’re gonna do it right”.   


“A wizard’s duel?”   


“A wizard’s duel,” Keith said solemnly, “Winner is the more powerful wizard”.   


“You’re on”.

  
***  


The room filled steadily with chatting students, all grinning and chatting amongst themselves. Many walked in in groups and pointed at Keith or, mostly, Lance excitedly-many walked in alone smirking. Lance had known he’d pissed off people now and then but a huge amount of students seemed to want him to get his ass kicked.   


Which was never gonna happen.   


Lance stood at the far end of the stone platform in the centre of the room with Pidge and Hunk, facing Keith and Shiro at the other end. Hunk looked worried and Pidge just seemed surprised.   


“So you’re seriously going through with it?” Hunk said, “Because you could back out, no judgement here, I mean who could blame you, Keith is an insanely powerful _fire_ mage and y’know you’re still a trainee ice mage which is an element which fire tends to beat naturally and all things considered could you really be blamed for backing out and-”

  
“He can’t back out Hunk,” Pidge sighed, “Look how many people have turned up, we just have to make sure he gets a good burial”.   


Lance chewed on his lip, worried, “You guys aren’t exactly making me feel better,” he murmured, “It’ll be fine, Keith loves me, he won’t hurt me too much right?”   


“Doesn’t he set you on fire sometimes?” Pidge said sceptically.   


“I’m dead,” Lance admitted miserably.

  
The last of the students finished taking seats in the stands both sides of the arena and the heavy doors at either end of the large, carved room slid shut. A hush fell over the crowd and Shiro walked apprehensively away from Keith to the centre of the platform. Hunk and Pidge both gave Lance pats on the shoulder and walked off of the platform to join the other students in their seats.   


Shiro nodded to Lance across the platform as he moved to the centre for just a brief moment, such a small moment Lance wouldn’t have seen it if he didn’t know Shiro so well. Shiro’s fingers visibly cackled with energy and he placed them to his lips, “Students,” he said, his voice louder than usual and projecting across the room easily thanks to his enchantment, “By our oldest rule as an academy, Keith Kogane has challenged Lance McClain to a Wizard’s Duel-the duel will end when one of the participating parties is dead or out of energy. Headmaster Alfor passes his regrets that he could not be here to officiate the duel but he has other matters to attend to”.   


The crowd cheered and fell silent and complained at the appropriate times during Shiro’s speech and again fell silent as it ended, as if every person in the room were holding their breath, “In that case as soon as I have vacated the field I announce the match begun”.   


Shiro hurried backwards off the platform and as soon as his last foot left the ground Lance immediately condensed the droplets on Keith’s side of the field and forced them to the ground in a large puddle. He pulled at the soles of Keith’s feet with them, slowing the boy and leaving him vulnerable.   


For his part Keith just held out his hand and allowed a fireball to build above it-the drawback of being a fire mage being that it takes time for fire to build and you aren’t immune to its heat, so not many can hold it close to their bodies without getting burnt. Keith eventually threw the flame down as Lance attempted to douse it, the fire catching the stone platform and staying alight miraculously and forming a silent wall between them.   


Lance scowled and pulled at the water attached to Keith’s feet-he hoped it would push the boy over, allowing the rest of him to be covered and thus more easily beaten but he was wrong; Keith just stood there muttering to himself, “Fire is heat,” he heard him mutter confidently, “Heat is energy. Energy is motion. Control the fire, stop the motion”.   


Lance shook his head in offense and attempted to turn his water to ice-he had once managed the feet but felt confident he could do it now in the heat of the battle with a crowd cheering around him. He felt the magic leave his system and the water on the far side of the platform gained a shiny gloss to its top layer. Good enough, Lance decided and started walking toward Keith’s wall of flame.   


A fire mage loses energy creating a flame but gains energy from fire nearby-this was a fact most wizards caught quickly. It drained Keith to build the wall of fire but it energised him to have it remain, which made him a difficult opponent. Lance drew the remaining water from the air the best he could and attempted to form a cloud but Keith struck first.   


“Fire is heat,” he said louder and more confidently, “Heat is energy. Energy is nuclear, nuclear is an explosion,” Keith grinned, maniacally, and a small blast threw Lance backwards off his feet. Lance suddenly wished he’d paid more attention in his classes about the basic principles of magic-how a fire mage could control things so distanced from fire was remarkable.   


_Magic is a state of mind_ Lance told himself _You have to believe it will work and it will_. Lance let out a shaky breath and tried to pull the fire down between himself and Keith, his limbs shaky and sore from the explosion, “Ice is just cold,” he muttered to himself, mimicking Keith, “Cold is the absence of heat. I can get rid of heat and make the cold”. He attempted to push the fire away again and again wish his mind but to not avail. The magic cackled at his fingertips uselessly, confused with nowhere to go.   


“Come on Ice Queen,” Keith taunted and pulled down his fire wall, acting as if he hadn’t known that was exactly what Lance had been attempting to do moments prior, “There’s nothing stopping you, why don’t you just freeze my blood and be done with it. Or am I too hot for you?”   


Lance charged at Keith foolishly, not thinking of his safety, only of how much he wanted to slap the other boy’s smug face with a gallon of water. He drew the water droplets from the air and the floor and wrapped them around Keith’s hands like gloves. The magic at his fingertips cackled and Keith yelled in pain as almost electric pain rocketed up his arms.   


“Are you okay?” Lance said worried and Keith grimaced, “You can just surrender, I don’t want to hurt you”.   


“I’m not backing down,” Keith howled, his eyes cackling with power in a dangerous way, and flames caught themselves on Lance’s hoodie for the second time that day. They grew quickly and Lance yelled, throwing it off and losing control of the water around Keith’s hands freeing them. Lance tore off his hoodie as the flames grew unnaturally fast and Keith grinned.   


“Let’s get this properly started,” he said shakily, his legs clearly close to giving out much like Lance’s. Around them the crowd cheered for blood and Lance readied his power to strike.

**Author's Note:**

> THIS SHORTNESS IS ONLY TEMPORARY I WILL WRITE MORE I HOPE YOU ENJOY WHAT THERE IS ALREADY


End file.
